Method and system for capturing an image for wound assessment

ABSTRACT

A method is disclosed of capturing an image of a wound on a subject for wound assessment. The method includes obtaining an image of a portion of the subject with one or more cameras; displaying the image on a display panel on an imaging device; obtaining a stored condition from a memory; obtaining a present condition; comparing the stored condition and the present condition; displaying a crosshair over the image on the display panel when it is decided that the present condition corresponds to the stored condition on the basis of the comparison; receiving an instruction for capturing; and capturing an image of the wound in response to the received instruction.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a device and method for woundassessment, and more particularly, to a method and system for capturingvisible injuries or wounds, and which allows both clinicians andpatients to capture wounds relatively easily and consistently atdifferent times and/or locations for wound assessment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

For many wound types, like pressure ulcers, the recovery time can bevery long. To track the wound progress and get proper treatment, thefirst step is to capture the wound properly. Considering many actualissues, like wound location (for example, back, head), position (forexample, lying down, sitting), environment (for example, lighting,supporting device), and experience of using electronic devices (forexample, angle, focus) can greatly affect capturing results. It is alsocommon to ask the user or operator to capture an image in certainconditions, like perpendicular to a wound within certain range. However,this can be difficult for an inexperience user, especially if a patienthas to capture a wound by him or herself.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above, it would be desirable to have a device and method,which provides relatively clear and dynamic indications to a user bydisplaying instructions on the device to help guide the user forcapturing images of the visible injury or wound.

A method is disclosed of capturing an image of a wound on a subject forwound assessment, the method comprising: obtaining an image of a portionof the subject with one or more cameras; displaying the image on adisplay panel on an imaging device; obtaining a stored condition from amemory; obtaining a present condition; comparing the stored conditionand the present condition; displaying a crosshair over the image on thedisplay panel when it is decided that the present condition correspondsto the stored condition on the basis of the comparison; receiving aninstruction for capturing; and capturing an image of the wound inresponse to the received instruction.

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer usablemedium having a computer readable code embodied therein is disclosed forcapturing an image of a wound on a subject for wound assessment, theprocess comprising: obtaining an image of a portion of the subject withone or more cameras; displaying the image on a display panel on animaging device; obtaining a stored condition from a memory, the storedcondition including at least one of distance data, angle data, andlightness data; obtaining a present condition; comparing the storedcondition and the present condition; displaying a crosshair over theimage on the display panel when it is decided that the present conditioncorresponds to the stored condition on the basis of the comparison;receiving an instruction for capturing; and capturing an image of thewound in response to the received instruction.

An imaging device is disclosed, the imaging device comprising: one ormore cameras configured to obtain an image of a portion of the subjectwith one or more cameras; displaying the image on a display panel on theimaging device; and a processor configured to: obtain a stored conditionfrom a memory; obtain a present condition; compare the stored conditionand the present condition; display a crosshair over the image on thedisplay panel when it is decided that the present condition correspondsto the stored condition on the basis of the comparison; receive aninstruction for capturing; and capture an image of the wound in responseto the received instruction.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and areintended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of theinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention. In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an imaging device for wound assessment witha graphical user interface in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are illustrations of an image on the graphical userinterface or display screen in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a block diagram of a device for woundassessment in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a block diagram of a device for woundassessment showing functionality of device components in accordance withan exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an input screen in accordance with anexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of data, which can be stored in the device andoutput to a user via the user interface in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment.

FIG. 7 is an illustration showing wound detection history in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a series of images depicted on the userinterface in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a series of images depicted on the userinterface in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an illustration of a series of images depicted on the userinterface in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an illustration of a flow chart for wound assessment inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an illustration of a block diagram of a device for woundassessment showing functionality of device components in accordance withan exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 13 is an illustration of a series of images depicted on the userinterface in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 14 is an illustration of a flow chart for wound assessment inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 15 is an illustration of a block diagram of a device for woundassessment showing functionality of device components in accordance withan exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 16 is an illustration of a series of images depicted on the userinterface in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIGS. 17A and 17B are illustrations of a flow chart for wound assessmentin accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferredembodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers areused in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or likeparts.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, a device and method aredisclosed, which can automatically or semi-automatically detect woundsand/or visible injuries, can track wounds and display the distance tothe wound, can include a capture range and shape to help ensurerelatively high quality and low computation cost, and highlights thewound, if captured.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the capturing process caninclude, for example, detecting a wound or visible injury, tracking thewound or visible injury, providing a capture range and shape; andhighlighting the wound or visible injury.

Wound Detection:

A wound can be detected by a number of features, which can include:

Color: Wounds are typically red/pink/yellow/black in color depending onthe stages of the wound deteriorating or healing progress. The woundcolor is different from a patient's skin tone.

Contrast: Since the wound color differs from the normal skin tone, thiscontrast yields edge contours. A closed contour can be detected andanalyzed to find the wound's boundary.

Texture: Wound may have more roughness than a smooth skin.

Surface normal: Wound's surface often sits lower or higher than thesurrounding normal skin. The surface normal thus can be used to detect,for example, a recess or a sudden change in the surface normal at therecessed wound boundary.

3D depth: Since the wound often sits lower or higher than the surroundnormal skin, the depth information can be used to find an area that islower than the skin surface.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, when a wound is detected, abounding volume, in the shape of cuboid, sphere, or ellipsoid,representing the capturing range for which a 3D image is constructed canbe displayed and a crosshair 40 (FIG. 8) can point to the center of thewound. For example, the crosshair can be represented as intersectinglines in the shape of a cross, “+”, and/or variations, which can includedots, posts, circles, scales, chevrons, or a combination of these.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, for example, if there aremultiple wounds, or the device fails to detect the wound, the user oroperator can manually move the crosshair.

Wound Tracking:

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the wound can be tracked bydetecting the above-mentioned features. Other scale-invariant featuressuch as SIFT, SURF, or BRISK can also be used to provide stable trackingpoints. In addition to the feature-based techniques, area-based methodsuch as cross-correlation can be used to locate the wound in theconsecutive frames. For example, Kalman filtering, which incorporatesprior information about the scene or object, can also be used toovercome the case of partial wound occlusion.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the crosshair can or alwayspoint to the center of the wound, and the distance from the center ofthe wound to the camera can be displayed. In addition, a two-dimensional(2D) display size of the crosshair can be expanded or contracted withrespect to a depth (or Z distance), wherein X, Y coordinates aredisplayed. For example, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment, theX, Y, and Z values can be derived from the mapping of camera matrix,model matrix, and view matrix.

Capture Range and Shape:

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, when a visible wound isdetected, the size and shape of wound range can be roughly estimatedbased on contour found using the features described above in connectionwith the wound detection. The initial cube for capturing range for whicha 3D image is constructed will be adaptively modified to a larger orsmaller cube, or to a cuboid, sphere, or ellipsoid with the suitablesize (length, width, height) to match the wound shape, and help reducethe data associated with the detection and reduce unnecessary data inconnection with the wound as detected.

Highlight Wound:

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, a wound may be large and itmay not be flat throughout and with the possibility of occluded views,and as such, one capturing frame may not be sufficient to scan and/orsee the entirety of the wound. For example, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment, the user and/or operator can move (shift, tilt,or/and rotate) the camera to help ensure that the entirety of the woundcan be fully captured. In this capturing process, when a part of woundhas been scanned and the data has been successfully acquired, that partof wound will be highlighted with a chosen color, which is obviouslydifferent from the to-be scanned regions, to give the user a visualfeedback. For example, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment, thehighlight can help enable the user to know where next the camera shouldbe moved to for a full wound capture.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an imaging device 1 for wound assessmentwith a graphical user interface in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the device 1 can include a graphicaluser interface or screen 15, which preferably defines a touch screen orpanel 16 on a front side. The device 1 can also include one or morecameras 13, 14, preferably in the form of a two-dimensional (2D camera)13 and a three-dimensional (3D) camera 14 on a back side. For example,the imaging device 1 can be a tablet computer, for example, an iPhone®,an iPad®, Android enabled devices and/or other various handheld mobiledevise as described herein, which includes one or more cameras havingthe ability to capture and generate 3D images.

As shown in FIG. 1, the device 1 can be a tablet or tablet-like devicehaving the user interface or display 15 and an outer housing 30.Electrical components as disclosed herein may be positioned between theuser interface or display 15 and the housing. The electronic componentsmay vary depending on the particular functionality of the device 1.However, by way of example, the electronic components may include, forexample, a battery, a communication interface, an antenna, a processor,and/or a memory.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are illustrations of an image on the graphical userinterface or display screen in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the user places a portion or part of his orher body with the wound or injury in front of the cameras 13, 14 and animage is displayed on the user interface or screen 15, which includes acrosshair, which points to the center of the wound, a distance from thewound center to the cameras 13, 14 and a border of the capturing rangefor which a 3D image is constructed.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a block diagram of the device 1 for woundassessment in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG.3, the device 1 can include a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, memory12, for example, RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), a2D camera 12, a 3D camera, a display 15, a touch panel 16, a networkinterface 17, and a bus 18, which is configured to transfer data betweencomponents within the imaging device 1. In accordance with an exemplaryembodiment, the imaging device 1 can include, for example, a powersupply and other auxiliary electronics components. The network interface17, for example, can include a wireless communication unit or networkingunit, for example, can be a radio frequency (RF) and/or infrared (IR)transmission, and a networking interface, which can connect to a LocalArea Network 19.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a block diagram of a device 1 for woundassessment showing functionality of the device components in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the device 1 caninclude a wound image capture module 110, a wound image displayer module120, a crosshair controller module 130, a condition store module (e.g.,memory) 140, sensor(s) 150, and an instruction receiver module 160.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the wound image capturemodule 110 can include a 2D image capture module 111 and a 3D imagecapture module 112, which are configured to capture and process theimages of the wound received from the 2D camera 13 and 3D camera 14. Thecrosshair controller module 130 can be configured to include an ON/OFFswitcher, and wherein the crosshair is not displayed (“OFF”), if thepresent capturing environment does not correspond, for example to astored condition. Alternatively, in an “ON” condition, the crosshair canbe displayed if the present capturing environment corresponds to astored condition. In addition, the crosshair controller module caninclude a size decider 132. For example, in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment, the size decider 132 can be configured based on distancefrom the wound and/or history and/or stored condition of a wound, toadjust the size of the crosshair. The sensor(s) 150 can include, forexample, a distance sensor 151, an angle sensor 152 for detectingmovement of the imaging device 1, and a light or lightness sensor 153.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, for example, the instructionreceiver 160 can be a touch screen panel or series of pixels with theword “SCAN”, which sends a signal to the device to capture the image ofthe wound as disclosed herein.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an input screen in accordance with anexemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the input screen can include,for example, a wound selection (i.e., “Select a wound”), and one or morewounds, for example, right and left foot, right and left leg, back,right and left arm, and/or right and left hand (i.e., “Thomas: rightfoot” and “Thomas: back”).

FIG. 6 is an illustration of data, which can be stored in the device andoutput to a user via the user interface in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, the condition data can include at leastone of distance data, angle data, and lightness data. The condition datamay be stored in connection with each user and/or wound location. Inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment, for example, it can be storedwhen the 3D image is constructed for the prior diagnosis, or can bestored, as a fix data for each imaging device 1 in advance.

FIG. 7 is an illustration showing wound detection history in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, the result of thewound detection based on the 2D and 3D constructed data can be storedwith respect to each diagnosis (or detection).

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a series of images depicted on the userinterface in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG.8, upper figures, the crosshair is not displayed if the presentcapturing environment does not correspond to the stored condition. Inthe middle figures, the crosshair 40 is displayed if the presentcapturing environment corresponds to the stored condition. In addition,the distance between the 3D camera and the wound can be displayed. Asshown in the bottom figures, in response to moving the device closer tothe wound, the wound image is magnified. In addition, the size of thecrosshair 40 is also magnified so that the size consists with apredetermined actual length. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment,the size of the crosshair 40 can be predetermined as fixed value, forexample, 1 cm. In addition, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment,the size of the crosshair 40 can be determined by a wound detectionhistory, for example, the prior detected wound size.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a series of images depicted on the userinterface in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. In accordance withan exemplary embodiment, the crosshair can be manually moved with afingertip of the operator on the touch screen to the wound. In responseto the movement of the crosshair, the capturing range for which a 3Dimage is constructed moves so that a center of the capturing rangecorresponds to the crosshair.

FIG. 10 is an illustration of a series of images depicted on the userinterface in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG.10, the shape 50 of the capturing region or bounding volume can bechanged to a shape, which corresponds to the shape or region 52previously detected in a prior diagnosis. In accordance with anexemplary embodiment, for example, a user can capture a wound imagewhile comparing the wound to the shape 52 of the previously detectedwound. In addition, together with the crosshair, the user can estimatewound size change at the same time.

FIG. 11 is an illustration of a flow chart for wound assessment inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 11, in stepS1000, the registered condition is read, for example in response to auser selection on the user interface 15 (for example, FIG. 5) theregistered condition corresponding to selected wound is read. In stepS1100, 2D and 3D images are captured by the device 1. In step S1020, thepresent condition (present capturing environment) is obtained. In stepS1030, a two-dimensional (2D) image is displayed on the user interface15. In step S1040, a determination is made if the present conditionmatches the registered condition. If the present condition matches theregistered condition, the process continues to step S1050, where thesize of the crosshair is determined. In step S1060, with the crosshair“ON”, i.e., crosshair is shown on the display screen, the crosshair isshown or displayed at the decided size. In step S1090, a determinationis made if the captured instruction is received. If the capturedinstruction is received, the 3D image is constructed. In step S1110, thecaptured condition is stored.

If the present condition does not match the registered condition, theprocess continues to step S1070, where a determination is made if thecrosshair is currently displayed. If yes, the cross is turned “OFF”, thecrosshair is erased, and in step S1081, a message (for example, Notmatch condition) can be displayed to the user.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, in step S1070, if thecrosshair is not currently displayed, the process returns to step S1010where the 2D and 3D images are captured.

In step S1090, if the captured image instructions is not received theprocess returns to step S1010, where 2D and 3D images are captured.

FIG. 12 is an illustration of a block diagram of a device 1 for woundassessment showing functionality of device components in accordance withanother exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 12, the device 1 caninclude a wound image capture module 110, a wound image displayer module120, a crosshair controller module 130, a condition store module (e.g.,memory) 140, sensor(s) 150, an instruction receiver module 160, a wounddetector module 170, and a wound indicator module 180.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the wound image capturemodule 110 can include a 2D image capture module 111 and a 3D imagecapture module 112, which are configured to capture and process theimages of the wound received from the 2D camera 13 and 3D camera 14. Thecrosshair controller module 130 can be configured to include an ON/OFFswitcher, and wherein the crosshair is not displayed (“OFF”), if thepresent capturing environment does not correspond, for example to astored condition. Alternatively, in an “ON” condition, the crosshair canbe displayed if the present capturing environment corresponds to astored condition or a new wound. In addition, the crosshair controllermodule can include a size decider 132. For example, in accordance withan exemplary embodiment, the size decider 132 can be configured based ondistance from the wound and/or history and/or stored condition of awound, to adjust the size of the crosshair. In addition, a mover module133 can be included within the crosshair controller module 130, whichallows the user to manually move the crosshair. The sensor(s) 150 caninclude, for example, a distance sensor 151, an angle sensor 152 for thedevice 1, and a lightness sensor 153.

FIG. 13 is an illustration of a series of images depicted on the userinterface illustrating the use of the wound detector module 170 and thewound indicator 180. As shown in the upper figure of FIG. 13, if nomatch is detected, the crosshair is not shown. Alternatively, thecrosshair is displayed if the present capturing environment correspondsto the stored condition. In addition, the distance between the 3D cameraand the wound is displayed on the display panel 15. In accordance withan exemplary embodiment, when a wound is detected, the wound indicatoris displayed at the position of the detected wound, and the crosshair ismoved to the center of the wound.

As shown in the above example, the crosshair is displayed in response tothe present environment corresponding to the stored condition; however,other embodiments may be employed. For example, the crosshair may not bedisplayed while no wound is detected even if the present environmentcorresponds to the stored condition, and then, both of the crosshair andthe wound indicator may be concurrently displayed when the presentenvironment corresponds to the stored condition and a wound is detected.In accordance with another exemplary embodiment, the wound indicator maybe displayed when a wound is detected even though the presentenvironment does not correspond to the stored condition, and then thecrosshair may be overlapped in response to that the present environmentcorresponds to the stored condition.

FIG. 14 is an illustration of a flow chart for wound assessment inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 14, theprocess is similar to the process as shown in FIG. 11, however, in stepS1060, the wound detector module 170, when the crosshair is “ON” anddisplayed at a decided or determined size and position, in step 1061, adetermination can be made if the wound is detected. If the wound is notdetected, the process continues to step S1010, where the 2D and 3Dimages are captured. However, if the wound is detected, in step S1062,the wound indication is displayed and in step S1063, the crosshair canbe moved to the wound on the display panel 15. The process continues tostep S1090, where a determination is made, if the capture instruction,i.e., the SCAN icon or series are activated, for example, on the touchpanel 16.

FIG. 15 is an illustration of a block diagram of a device for woundassessment showing functionality of device components in accordance withan exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 15, the device 1 can includethe modules as shown in FIGS. 4 and 12, however, the instructionreceiver module 160 can include a capture instruction receiver (or SCANicon) 161, and a crosshair designation receiver 162. The crosshairdesignation receiver 162 can be configured such that crosshair can bemanually moved on the display panel 15, if, for example, two or morewounds are present in the image.

FIG. 16 is an illustration of a series of images depicted on the userinterface in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. As shown, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment, two or more wounds can bepresent in a single image. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment,the crosshair designation receiver 162 can be configured, such that viathe touch screen 16, one of the two or more wounds on the display panel15 can be selected. For example, by activation of the crosshairdesignation receiver 162, by touching one of the two images, thecrosshair will move and/or relocate to the selected image.

FIGS. 17A and 17B are illustrations of a flow chart for wound assessmentin accordance with an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 17A and17B, the process is similar to the process as shown in FIGS. 11 and 14,however, in step S1041, the wound detector module 170, determines if oneor more wounds are present. If no wounds are detected, the processcontinues to step S1070, where a determination is made, if the crosshairis currently displayed as described in accordance with FIG. 11.Alternatively, if one or more wounds are detected in step S1041, theprocess continues to step S1042, wherein the wound indicator isdisplayed. In step S1043, if all the detected wounds are processed, theprocess continues to step S1044, where a determination is made if thewound has be designated and/or selected. If the wound has not beendesignated or selected, the process continues to step S1010, where the2D and 3D images are captured.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, if the wound has beendesignated or selected, in step S1050, the crosshair size is decided ordetermined, and the in step S1051, the crosshair position can be decidedor determined. The process continues to step S1060, where the crosshairis activated or “ON” and in step S1064, the crosshair designationreceiver 162 in combination with the wound detector module 170 and thewound indicator module 180, can erase and/or deleted wounds on thedisplay panel, which are not designated and/or selected. The processcontinues to step S1090, wherein it is determined if the captureinstructions is received as described in connection with FIG. 11.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, a computer program productcomprising a non-transitory computer usable medium having a computerreadable code embodied therein is disclosed for capturing an image of awound on a subject for wound assessment, the process comprising:obtaining an image of a portion of the subject with one or more cameras;displaying the image on a display panel on an imaging device; obtaininga stored condition from a memory, the stored condition including atleast one of distance data, angle data, and lightness data; obtaining apresent condition; comparing the stored condition and the presentcondition; displaying a crosshair over the image on the display panelwhen it is decided that the present condition corresponds to the storedcondition on the basis of the comparison; receiving an instruction forcapturing; and capturing an image of the wound in response to thereceived instruction.

The non-transitory computer usable medium, of course, may be a magneticrecording medium, a magneto-optic recording medium, or any otherrecording medium which will be developed in future, all of which can beconsidered applicable to the present invention in all the same way.Duplicates of such medium including primary and secondary duplicateproducts and others are considered equivalent to the above mediumwithout doubt. Furthermore, even if an embodiment of the presentinvention is a combination of software and hardware, it does not deviatefrom the concept of the invention at all. The present invention may beimplemented such that its software part has been written onto arecording medium in advance and will be read as required in operation.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variation can be made to the structure of the presentinvention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present inventioncover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fallwithin the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of capturing an image of a wound on asubject for wound assessment, the method comprising: obtaining an imageof a portion of the subject with one or more cameras; displaying theimage on a display panel on an imaging device, the display panelincluding a touch screen; obtaining a stored condition from a memory,the memory being within the imaging device, or the memory being anexternal memory, which is in communication with the imaging device via anetwork interface on the imaging device; obtaining a present condition;comparing the stored condition and the present condition; displaying acrosshair over the image on the display panel when the present conditioncorresponds to the stored condition on a basis of the comparison andremoving the crosshair from the display panel when the present conditiondoes not correspond to the stored condition on the basis of thecomparison; displaying a distance from the wound to the imaging deviceon the display panel; receiving an instruction for capturing when thepresent condition corresponds to the stored condition; and capturing theimage of the wound in response to the received instruction.
 2. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the stored condition includes atleast one of distance data, angle data, and lightness data.
 3. Themethod according to claim 2, comprising: storing the stored conditionwhen the image of the wound is captured, and reading the storedcondition for a next capturing.
 4. The method according to claim 2,comprising: displaying a condition selection menu on the display panel,the condition selection menu providing a list of one or more previouslycaptured wounds for the subject; and obtaining the stored conditioncorresponding to a selection on the condition selection menu.
 5. Themethod according to claim 1, comprising: changing a size of thecrosshair on a basis of the distance from the wound to the imagingdevice so that the size of the crosshair consists with a predeterminedactual length.
 6. The method according to claim 5, comprising: settingthe predetermined actual length of the crosshair based on a wounddetection history of one or more previously captured wounds.
 7. Themethod according to claim 5, comprising: setting the predeterminedactual length of the crosshair to a fixed value.
 8. The method accordingto claim 1, comprising: providing a capture range and a capture shape onthe display panel to assist with the capturing of the image of thewound.
 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the capture shape hasa shape of a cuboid, sphere, or ellipsoid; and matching the captureshape to the wound.
 10. The method according to claim 1, comprising:locating the crosshair at a center of the wound on the display panel;and capturing the image of the wound while the crosshair is located onthe center of the wound on the display panel.
 11. The method accordingto claim 1, comprising: manually moving the crosshair to the wound onthe display panel using the touch screen; and dragging the crosshair tothe image of the wound or tapping on the image of the wound to move thecrosshair to the wound.
 12. The method according to claim 1, comprising:varying a shape of a bounding volume based on a shape corresponding to ashape of the wound from a prior imaging.
 13. The method according toclaim 1, comprising: highlighting the wound with a color to assist theuser in capturing the wound.
 14. The method according to claim 1,wherein the crosshair is a represented by intersecting lines in theshape of a cross, a “+”, dots, posts, circles, scales, chevrons, acombination of the cross, the “+”, the dots, the posts, the circles, thescales, and the chevrons.
 15. A computer program product comprising anon-transitory computer usable medium having a computer readable codeembodied therein for capturing an image of a wound on a subject forwound assessment, the process comprising: obtaining an image of aportion of the subject with one or more cameras; displaying the image ona display panel on an imaging device, the display panel including atouch screen; obtaining a stored condition from a memory, the storedcondition including at least one of distance data, angle data, andlightness data, the memory being within the imaging device, or thememory being an external memory, which is in communication with theimaging device via a network interface on the imaging device; obtaininga present condition; comparing the stored condition and the presentcondition; displaying a crosshair over the image on the display panelwhen the present condition corresponds to the stored condition on abasis of the comparison and removing the crosshair from the displaypanel when the present condition does not correspond to the storedcondition on the basis of the comparison; displaying a distance from thewound to the imaging device on the display panel; receiving aninstruction for capturing when the present condition corresponds to thestored condition; and capturing the image of the wound in response tothe received instruction.
 16. An imaging device for capturing an imageof a wound on a subject for wound assessment, the imaging devicecomprising: one or more cameras configured to obtain an image of aportion of the subject with one or more cameras; displaying the image ona display panel on the imaging device, the display panel including atouch screen; and a processor configured to: obtain a stored conditionfrom a memory, the memory being within the imaging device, or the memorybeing an external memory, which is in communication with the processorvia a network interface on the imaging device; obtain a presentcondition; compare the stored condition and the present condition;display a crosshair over the image on the display panel when the presentcondition corresponds to the stored condition on a basis of thecomparison and removing the crosshair from the display panel when thepresent condition does not correspond to the stored condition on thebasis of the comparison; display a distance from the wound to theimaging device on the display panel; receive an instruction forcapturing when the present condition corresponds to the storedcondition; and capture the image of the wound in response to thereceived instruction.
 17. The imaging device according to claim 16,wherein the stored condition includes at least one of distance data,angle data, and lightness data.
 18. The imaging device according toclaim 17, wherein the processor is configured to: store the storedcondition when the image of the wound is captured; read the storedcondition for a next capturing; displaying a condition selection menu onthe display panel, the condition selection menu providing a list of oneor more previously captured wounds for the subject; and obtaining thestored condition corresponding to a selection on the condition selectionmenu.